JACKSON, MI -- Springport
Motor Speedway is giving back to the local
community with two charitable racing events taking place this weekend.

On Saturday, the Children's Miracle Network is Springport's charitable cause. Working in conjunction with Wal-Mart
and Sparrow Hospital
Children's Center, half of all ticket sales
from participating Wal-Mart locations are donated to CMN and earmarked for
Sparrow's Children's Center. On Sunday, Operation Homefront will be at the speedway benefiting from special
events at the track. Operation Homefront provides emergency financial aid and
other help for families of deployed service members and for Wounded Warriors.

Saturday's event marks the
return of Wingless
Sprints to Springport after a nearly 15-year
absence. The ground-pounding, fire-breathing Sprints headline the all-open
wheel show, which also includes the Hungry
Howie Modifieds, Michigan Legends and MCR Dwarf cars.

On Sunday, race fans will
find a special afternoon event, with the green flag dropping at 4 p.m., as
the DTS
Sunday All-Star Series comes to Springport.
The All-Star Series features the best teams from across Michigan, Ohio and
Indiana taking on the local favorites in an action-packed afternoon and evening
of Outlaw Super Late Model and ABC Stock Car racing. Topping off the evening will be a $1,000-to-Win
Front Wheel Drive Enduro.

Mlive.com's
weather forecast is nearly perfect, with
clear skies, warm temperatures and mild humidity in the forecast. The same could not be said for last
weekend's conditions, as a persistent rain Friday washed out all events
scheduled at Jackson Speedway and Spartan Speedway.

Cool temps, hot racing

TomWphotography Quincy's Tim Wilber captures his second checkered flag of the 2012 season at Butler Motor Speedway.

Saturday Night at Butler Motor Speedway, the temperatures were cool, but the racing was hot
as the Battlegrounds got their complete show in. The first feature to hit the track would be
the Street Stocks with Dallas Prater of Homer and Robert VanderPloeg of Jackson
leading the field to the green. The Streeters saw a race of attrition, as
many of the normal front runners suffered mechanical failures, opening the
door for Angola's Jeff Hinkley Jr. to pick up his first feature win of 2012.

It was a windy night at Jackson Speedway on Saturday night, but the loyal racers fought off Mother Nature and
won. In the 600 Mini-Sprint Multi feature, Marv Hephner of Jackson led the field to the green flag and never looked back. There were several hard-fought
battles throughout the field, with the biggest being between teammates Tim Neal
and Dan Dunigan Jr. for second place. When
the checkered flag flew, Hephner earned his first win of the season,
followed by Neal by a nose over Dunigan.

Springport
Motor Speedway saw gray skies and scattered
drops of rain Saturday night, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the
crowd treated to a great night of short-track
action. Leslie's Tom Dumbauld Jr experienced a scary wreck after making contact
with the front stretch wall (video), while Onondaga's John Trudell picked up his first
feature win of the 2012 season.

-- Race Jackson is a weekly column dedicated to the local short track racing
community and focuses on the people and the businesses who support and
participate in local motorsports. Review past Race Jackson
columns at http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/